Brake head-brake shoe assembly



,Y d 1 Q2 i IN1/Emma L. D. DAVIS, JR

BRAKE HEADBRAKE SHOE ASSEMBLY Filed NOV. 10. 1955 f. rllllTllll- Il llllllll 6 als' o@ VMM www Aug. 19, 1958 BRAKE HEAD-BRAKE SHOE ASSElVIBLY Louis D. Davis, Jr., Chicago, lll., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 10, 1955, Serial No. 546,094

7 Claims. (Cl. 18S-244) This invention relates to railway brake equipment and more particularly to a novel brake head and brake shoe arrangement. The principal object of this invention is to provide an arrangement wherein the brake shoe may be easily and quickly removed for replacement without disturbing other portions of the mechanism.

Another object is to provide a brake head having a brake yshoe retained thereon by readily accessible fastening means, the head and shoe assembly comprising but few inexpensive parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide means to remove the brake shoe easily and quickly for replacement of a new brake shoe without disturbing the alignment mechanism attached to the head.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating a railway brake arrangement embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary and elevational view taken at line 2-2 of Figure l, but showing only the novel brake head and brake shoe and a portion of the rotor;

Figure 3 is a view taken at line 3 3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a detail of the locking means used to secure the shoe carrying backing plate to the brake head.

Referring to the drawings, the brake embodying the novel head and shoe is illustrated as applied to a conventional railway car truck having a pair of side rails secured in spaced relationship by means of transoms 12. The side rails are provided at their ends with pedestal jaws 14 defining openings 16 which receive journal boxes (not shown) adapted to receive the ends of wheel and axle assemblies 18. The wheel and axle assemblies comprise spaced wheels secured to respective ends of axle 22. A rotor 24 which is preferably in the form of a circular disk is secured to each wheel for rotation therewith. The rotor 24 is provided with opposed friction braking faces 26 which are preferably substantially radial to the axis of rotation of the wheel and rotor. Only one wheel and rotor is shown in that they are identical with the wheel and rotor on the opposite side of the axle. It will be understood also that the above structure is merely representative of one type of truck on which the invention may be utilized.

The brake assembly generally indicated at 28 comprises a housing 30 secured to the transom 12 and having a pair of brake levers 32 pivotally mounted thereon and projecting outwardly thereof along opposed sides of the rotor 24. The brake head assemblies generally indicated at 34 are pivotally mounted at respective ends of the brake levers as will be hereinafter described. A ,brake cylinder 36 or other conventional power means is mounted within the housing 30 to actuate the brake levers 32. The brake cylinder is of course connected to a fluid supply line (not shown). An alignment guide link assembly 38 and an adjustment assembly generally indicated at 40 may also be provided but are not described herein in detail nite States Patent C 0 2,848,076 Patented Aug. 19, 1958 ice inasmuch as they are conventional and form no part of the present invention.

Referring now to the novel brake head and shoe arrangement 34, a brake head is pivotally mounted at the end of each brake lever 32 in a conventional manner by means of pivot pin 52. The brake head is substantially a flat plate and is provided with a pair of lugs 54 which pivotally receive the pivot pin 52. The brake head is also provided with an opening 56 at the lower end thereof. Carried by each brake head 50 is backing plate 58 to which is attached, as by riveting and cementing, brake shoe blocks 60. The advantage of utilizing segmental rather than integral blocks is that by so doing, blocks having differing braking and wear characteristics may be combined to obtain the most desirable over-all brake shoe qualities. Attached to the upper end of the backing plate is a lug 62 (Figures 2 and 3), a portion of which is spaced from the plate to dene therewith an opening 64 through which is received the upper end of the brake head 50.

The lower end of the backing plate, a portion of which extends below the brake shoe, is secured to the brake head by the locking means illustrated in Figure 4 and comprising a bolt or shoulder pin 66 and a nut 68.. The bolt comprises a head portion 70 and a threaded body portion 72 of a smaller diameter than the head 70. Immediately below the head portion 70 is a shoulder portion 74 which is smaller than the head portion but larger than the tbody portion. A segment of the shoulder portion is preferably removed to provide a ilat locking surface 76. The backing plate is provided with an opening l78 which is aligned with the opening 56 of the brake head. The opening 78 is formed to the same contour as the shoulder portion 74 of the bolt 66 so that the bolt will not rotate when received within the opening. The plate 58 is additionally provided with a slot 80 extending from the opening 78 to the lowermost edge of the plate, the slot 80 being smaller than the shoulder portion 74 of the pin but large enough to receive therethrough the body portion 72 of the pin. It can be seen that with the brake head and ybacking plate in assembled position, with the upper portion of the brake head 50 being received in the opening 64, and with openings 78 and 56 aligned that the bolt may be inserted into the latter openings. The body portion 72 of the bolt will be received through and will project beyond the opening 56 in the head. The shoulder portion 74 will be received in the opening 78 in the `backing plate. The head 70 will be in abutting engagement with the backing plate and the assembly will be maintained by means of the nut 68.

Removal of the brake head may be accomplished by loosening the nut 68 and backing it off of the bolt an amount slightly greater than the thickness of the shoulder portion 74 and moving the bolt and nut toward the rotor a sufficient amount to remove the shoulder portion 74 from the opening 78. The backing plate and brake shoe may then be removed vertically upward with the upper portion of the brake head being easily disengaged from the slot 64 and the lower portion of the brake head being easily disengaged by virtue of the slot 80 being larger than the body portion 72 of the bolt and therefore permitting the bolt to pass therethrough. A new plate and shoe assembly may be quickly assembled by merely reversing the above procedure. It is apparent that the above de- '3 scribed invention thereby provides a device wherein the replacement of a brake shoe can be accomplished easily and quickly without the necessity of disturbing or disassemblying any other portions of the braking mechanism.

I claim:

l. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a truck structure and a supporting wheel and axle assembly, the combination of a brake head pivotally supported by said structure, a generally vertically extending backing plate, a lug on said plate defining a generally vertically disposed opening for receiving the upper portion of said brake head, a brake shoe carried by said plate for engagement with a rotatable friction surface of said assembly, a portion of said plate extending below said shoe, aligned openings in the portion and head, a slot in said portion extending from the portion opening to the lower edge of the portion, a pin having a head engageable with said portion, said pin being received within said openings and having a smaller diameter portion, and releasable means associated with said smaller diameter portion for retaining said pin in said head opening while accommodating removal of said plate and shoe.

2. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a truck structure and a supporting wheel and axle assembly, the combination of a break head pivotally supported by said structure, a generally vertically extending backing plate, a lug on said plate defining a generally vertically disposed opening for receiving the upper portion of said brake head, a brake shoe carried by said plate, a portion of said plate extending below said shoe, aligned openings in the portion and head, a slot in said portion extending from the portion opening to the lower edge of the portion, a pin having a head engageabl'e with said portion, said pin being received within said openings, and releasable means for retaining said pin in said head opening While accommodating removal lof said plate and shoe.

3. In a brake arrangement, a rotor having friction faces extending approximately radially of the axis of rotation of the rotor, a pivotally mounted brake lever, a brake head pivotally carried by said lever, said brake head having an opening therethrough at the lower end thereof, a brake shoe engageable with said friction face, said shoe having a generally vertically extending backing plate having an opening therethrough which, when said plate is positioned for assembly with said head is aligned with the head opening, a lug supported by said plate at the upper end thereof and deiining therewith a generally vertically disposed aperture adapted to receive the upper portion of said brake head, a slot in said plate extending from the aligned plate opening to the lower edge of said plate, a pin having an enlarged portion engageable With said plate, said pin having a body portion received within said aligned openings and extending beyond said aligned openings in a direction away from said enlarged portion, and releasable means associated with said body portion to retain said pin in said head opening when said plate is disassembled from said brake head.

4. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a truck structure and a supporting wheel and axle assembly, a brake head pivotally supported by said structure, a generally vertically extending backing plate adjacent said head and having a brake shoe secured thereto, slidably releasable means securing one end of said plate to the corresponding end of said head, said means comprising a lug secured to said plate and forming therewith a generally vertically disposed opening, and locking means securing the other end of said plate to the other end of said head, said locking means comprising aligned openings in said head and said plate, a slot in said plate extending from the plate opening to the 4 lower edge of said plate, a pin received Within said openings and having a head engageable with said plate, and means for retaing said pin in said head opening when said backing plate is removed.

5. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a truck structure and a supporting Wheel and axle assembly, a brake head pivoted to said structure, a generally vertically extending shoe carrying plate, a projection on the upper end of said plate forming therewith a vertically disposed aperture adapted to slidably receive the `opper end of said brake head, aligned openings in the lower ends of said plate and said head, a pin having a head engageable with said plate, said pin having a smaller diameter portion received within said aligned openings, releasable locking means associated with said small diameter portion for maintaining the pin in said openings and locking said plate in assembled position relative to said brake head, and a slot in said plate extending from the plate opening to the lower edge of the plate, said slot being larger than said portion, said slot accommodating removal of said plate in a vertical direction upon release of said locking means without disassembly thereof.

6. In a brake arrangement, a rotor, a pair of brake levers embracing said rotor, brake heads pivotally mounted on respective levers, each of said heads including a at plate, a shoe supporting plate, a lug on one of said plates defining a vertically disposed aperture at one end thereof adapted to receive one end of the other plate, aligned openings in plates, a slot extending from said one plate opening to the lower edge of said one plate, a pin received in the aligned openings and having a head engageable with one of said plates, said pin having a shoulder portion larger in diameter than the width of said slot, said pin having a body portion adapted to be received in said slot during assembly or disassembly of said brake head and said plate and releasable means for retaining said pin in the opening of said other' plate when said plates are disassembled.

7. A brake head-brake shoe assembly comprising, in combination: a brake head including a generally vertically extending plate having, adjacent the lower end thereof, a generally horizontally disposed opening extending therethrough; a brake shoe including a generally vertically extending plate having, adjacent the lower end thereof, a generally horizontally disposed opening extending therethrough which, when said shoe plate is positioned for assembly with said head plate, is aligned with said head plate opening; a projection adjacent the upper end of one of said plates defining a generally vertically disposed aperture adapted to receive an upper portion of said other plate; said one plate having a slot therein extending from the opening thereof to the lower edge thereof; a pin having an enlarged portion engageable with one of said plates, said pin being received within said openings; and release means for retaining said pin in the opening of said other plate when said plates are disassembled from each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 749,701 Potter Jan. 12, 1904 2,504,668 Eksergian Apr. 18, 1950 2,504,712 Mann Apr. 18, 1950 2,650,680 Coombes Sept. 1, 1953 

